CHAPTER V - THE THREE DEPARTMENTS OF THE HIERARCHY

CHAPTER V

THE THREE DEPARTMENTS OF THE HIERARCHY

We have already dealt with
the subject of the founding of the Hierarchy upon earth, and we saw how it came
to be, touching likewise upon certain crises which have occurred, and which
still affect events in the present time. In dealing with the work and aims of
the personnel of the Hierarchy, it will not be possible to state what those
aims have been, nor to consider in detail who the active personalities have
been during the past millennia of years since the Hierarchy came into
existence.

Many great Beings from
planetary and solar sources, and once or twice from cosmic sources, have at
times lent Their aid and dwelt briefly upon our planet. By the energy which
flowed through Them, and by Their profound wisdom and experience, They
stimulated earth's evolutions and brought the purposes of the Planetary Logos
so much the nearer to completion. Then They passed on, and Their places were
taken by those among the members of the Hierarchy Who were willing to undergo a
specific training and expansion of consciousness. In turn these adepts and
Masters had Their places filled by initiates, and thus constantly has there
been opportunity for disciples and highly evolved men and women to pass into
the ranks of the Hierarchy, and thus constantly has there been a circulation of
new life and blood, and the coming in of those who belong to a particular
period or age.

Some of the great names
during the later periods are known to history, such as Shri Sankaracharya,
Vyasa, [38] Mahommet, Jesus of Nazareth, and Krishna, down to
those lesser initiates, Paul of Tarsus, Luther, and certain of the outstanding
lights in European history. Always have these men and women been agents for
the carrying out of race purpose, for the bringing about of group conditions,
and for the furthering of the evolution of humanity. Sometimes they have
appeared as beneficent forces, bringing peace and contentment with them. More
often have they come as agents of destruction, breaking up the old forms of
religion and of government in order that the life within the rapidly
crystallising form might be set free and build for itself a newer and a better
vehicle.

Much that is stated here is
already well known, and has already been given out in the different occult
books. Yet in the wise and careful enunciation of collected facts, and their
correlation with that which may be new to some students, comes an eventual
synthetic grasp of the great plan, and a wise uniform realisation as to the
work of that great group of liberated souls who, in utter self-abnegation, stand
silently behind the world panorama. Through the power of their will, the
strength of their meditations, the wisdom of their plans, and the scientific
knowledge of energy which is theirs, they direct those force currents, and
control those form-building agencies which produce all that is seen and unseen,
movable and immovable in the sphere of creation within the three worlds. This,
coupled to their vast experience, is what fits them to be the agents for the
distribution of the energy of the Planetary Logos.

As has already been stated,
at the head of affairs, controlling each unit and directing all evolution,
stands the KING, the Lord of the World, Sanat Kumara, the Youth of Endless
Summers, and the Fountainhead of the Will, (showing forth as Love) of the
Planetary Logos. Co-operating with Him as His advisers are three Personalities
[39] called the Pratyeka Buddhas, or the Buddhas of
Activity. These four are the embodiment of active intelligent loving will.
They are the full flowering of the intelligence, having achieved in an earlier
solar system that which man is now striving to perfect. In earlier cycles in
this system They began to demonstrate intelligent love, and from the standpoint
of the average human being They are perfect love and perfect intelligence,
though from the standpoint of that Existence Who embraces even our planetary
scheme in His body of manifestation, that love aspect is as yet but in process
of developing, and the will is only embryonic. Another solar system will see
the will aspect come to fruition, as love will mature in this.

Standing around the Lord of
the World, but withdrawn and esoteric, are three more Kumaras, Who make the
seven of planetary manifestation. Their work is to us necessarily obscure.
The three exoteric Buddhas, or Kumaras, are the sumtotal of activity or
planetary energy, and the three esoteric Kumaras embody types of energy which
as yet are not in full demonstration upon our planet. Each of these six
Kumaras is a reflection of, and the distributing agent for, the energy and
force of one of the six other Planetary Logoi, the remaining six spirits before
the Throne. Sanat Kumara alone, in this scheme, is self-sustaining and
self-sufficient, being the physical incarnation of one of the Planetary Logoi,
which one it is not permissible to state, as this fact is one of the secrets of
initiation. Through each of Them passes the life force of one of the six rays,
and in considering Them one might sum up Their work and position as follows:—

1. They each embody one of
the six types of energy, with the Lord of the World as the synthesiser and the
embodier of the perfect seventh type, our planetary type.

[40]

2. They are each
distinguished by one of the six colours, with the Lord of the World showing
forth the full planetary colour, these six being subsidiary.

3. Their work is therefore
concerned, not only with force distribution, but with the passing into our
scheme from other planetary schemes, of Egos seeking earth experience.

4. Each of Them is in direct
communication with one or another of the sacred planets.

5. According to astrological
conditions, and according to the turning of the planetary wheel of life, so one
or another of these Kumaras will be active. The three Buddhas of Activity
change from time to time, and become in turn exoteric or esoteric as the case
may be. Only the King persists steadily and watchfully in active physical
incarnation.

Besides these main presiding
Personalities in the Council Chamber at Shamballa, there is a group of four
Beings Who are the representatives upon the planet of the four Maharajas, or
the four Lords of Karma in the solar system, who are specifically concerned
with the evolution at the present time of the human kingdom. These four are
connected with:—

1. The distribution of karma,
or human destiny, as it affects individuals, and through the individuals, the
groups.

2. The care and tabulation of
the akashic records. They are concerned with the Halls of Records, or with the
"keeping of the book," as it is called in the Christian Bible; They
are known in the Christian world as the recording angels.

[41]

3. The participation in solar
councils. They alone have the right during the world cycle to pass beyond the
periphery of the planetary scheme, and participate in the councils of the Solar
Logos. Thus They are literally planetary mediators, representing our Planetary
Logos and all that concerns Him in the greater scheme of which He is but a
part.

Co-operating with these
karmic Lords are the large groups of initiates and devas who occupy themselves
with the right adjustment of:—

a. World karma,

b. Racial karma,

c. National karma,

d. Group karma,

e. Individual karma,

and who are responsible to
the Planetary Logos for the correct manipulation of those forces and building
agencies which bring in the right Egos on the different rays at the correct
times and seasons.

With all these groups we have
little concern, for they are contacted only by initiates of the third
initiation, and by those of even more exalted rank.

The remaining personnel of
the Hierarchy is divided into three main and four subsidiary groups, each of
these groups, as will be seen by reference to the appended chart, being
presided over by one of Those Whom we call the three Great Lords.

The work of the Manu. <Pages
41,43>

The Manu presides over group
one. He is called Vaivasvata Manu, and is the Manu of the fifth root-race. He
[42] is the ideal man or thinker, and sets the type for our
Aryan race, having presided over its destinies since its inception nearly one
hundred thousand years ago. Other Manus have come and gone and His place will
be, in the relatively near future, taken by someone else. He will then pass on
to other work of a more exalted kind. The Manu, or the prototype of the fourth
root-race, works in close co-operation with Him, and has His centre of
influence in China. He is the second Manu that the fourth root-race has had,
having taken the place of the earlier Manu at the time of the final stages of
Atlantean destruction. He has remained to foster the development of the race
type, and to bring about its final disappearance. The periods of office of all
the Manus overlap, but there remains no representative of the third root-race
upon the globe at this time. Vaivasvata Manu has His dwelling place in the
Himalaya mountains, and has gathered around Him at Shigatse some of those
immediately connected with Aryan affairs in India, Europe and America, and
those who will later be concerned with the coming sixth root-race. The plans
are prepared for ages ahead, centres of energy are formed thousands of years
before they will be required, and in the wise fore-knowledge of these Divine
Men nothing is left to sudden eventuation, but all moves in ordered cycles and
under rule and law, though within karmic limitations.

The work of the Manu is
largely concerned with government, with planetary politics, and with the
founding, direction, and dissolution of racial types and forms. To Him is
committed the will and purpose of the Planetary Logos. He knows what is the
immediate objective for this cycle of evolution over which He has to preside,
and His work concerns itself with making that will an accomplished fact. He
works in closer co-operation with the building devas than does His Brother, the
Christ, for to Him is [43] given the work of
setting the race type, of segregating the groups out of which races will
develop, of manipulating the forces which move the earth's crust, of raising
and lowering continents, of directing the minds of statesmen everywhere so that
racial government will proceed as desired, and conditions be brought about
which will produce those needed for the fostering of any particular type. Such
a work can now be seen demonstrating in North America and Australia.

The energy which flows
through Him emanates from the head centre of the Planetary Logos, passing to
Him through the brain of Sanat Kumara, Who focalises all the planetary energy
within Himself. He works by the means of a dynamic meditation, conducted
within the head centre, and produces His results through His perfect
realisation of that which has to be accomplished, through a power to visualise
that which must be done to bring about accomplishment, and through a capacity
to transmit creative and destructive energy to those who are His assistants.
And all this is brought about through the power of the enunciated sound.

The work of the World Teacher, the Christ. <Pages 43,45>

Group two has the World
Teacher for its presiding Head. He is that Great Being Whom the Christian
calls the Christ; He is known also in the Orient as the Bodhisattva, and as the
Lord Maitreya, and is the One looked for by the devout Mohammedan, under the
name of the Imam Mahdi. He it is Who has presided over the destinies of life
since about 600 B.C. and He it is Who has come out among men before, and Who is
again looked for. He is the great Lord of Love and of Compassion, just as his
predecessor, the Buddha, was the Lord of Wisdom. [44] Through Him flows the energy of the second aspect,
reaching Him direct from the heart centre of the Planetary Logos via the heart
of Sanat Kumara. He works by means of a meditation centred within the heart.
He is the World Teacher, the Master of the Masters, and the Instructor of the
Angels, and to Him is committed the guidance of the spiritual destinies of men,
and the development of the realisation within each human being that he is a
child of God and a son of the Most High.

Just as the Manu is occupied
with the providing of the type and forms through which consciousness can evolve
and gather experience, thus making existence in its deepest sense possible, so
the World Teacher directs that indwelling consciousness in its life or spirit
aspect, seeking to energise it within the form so that, in due course of time,
that form can be discarded and the liberated spirit return whence it came.
Ever since He left the earth, as related with approximate accuracy in the Bible
story (though with much error in detail) has He stayed with the sons of men;
never has He really gone, but only in appearance, and in a physical body He can
be found by those who know the way, dwelling in the Himalayas, and working in
close co-operation with His two great Brothers, the Manu and the Mahachohan.
Daily He pours out His blessing on the world, and daily He stands under the
great pine in His garden at the sunset hour with hands uplifted in blessing
over all those who truly and earnestly seek to aspire. To Him all seekers are
known, and, though they may remain unaware of Him, the light which He pours
forth stimulates their desire, fosters the spark of struggling life and spurs
on the aspirant until the momentous day dawns when they stand face to face with
the One Who by being "lifted up" (occultly understood) is drawing all
men unto Himself as the Initiator of the sacred mysteries.

[45]

The work of the Lord of Civilisation, the Mahochohan. <Pages 45,48>

Group three has as its Head
the Mahachohan. His rule over the group persists for a longer period than that
of His two Brothers, and He may hold office for the term of several
root-races. He is the sumtotal of the intelligence aspect. The present
Mahachohan is not the original one Who held the office at the founding of the
Hierarchy in Lemurian days—it was then held by one of the Kumaras, or Lords of
the Flame, Who came into incarnation with Sanat Kumara—but He took hold of His
position during the second sub-race of the Atlantean root-race. He had
achieved adeptship on the moon-chain, and it was through His instrumentality
that a large number of the present more advanced human beings came into
incarnation in the middle of the Atlantean root-race. Karmic affiliation with
Him was one of the predisposing causes, thus making this eventuality possible.

His work concerns itself with
the fostering and strengthening of that relation between spirit and matter,
life and form, the self and the not-self, which results in what we call
civilisation. He manipulates the forces of nature, and is largely the
emanating source of electrical energy as we know it. Being the reflection of the
third, or creative aspect, energy from the Planetary Logos flows to Him from
the throat centre, and He it is Who in many ways makes the work of His Brothers
possible. Their plans and desires are submitted to Him, and through Him pass
the instructions to a large number of the deva agents.

Thus you have Will, Love, and
Intelligence represented in these three great Lords; you have the self, the
not-self, and the relation between synthesised in the unity of manifestation;
you have racial government, religion and civilisation forming a coherent whole,
and you have physical manifestation, the love or desire aspect, and the mind [46] of the Planetary Logos working out into objectivity.
The closest co-operation and unity exists between these three Personalities,
and every move and plan and event exists in Their united foreknowledge. They
are in daily touch with the Lord of the World at Shamballa, and the entire
guidance of affairs rests in Their hands, and in those of the Manu of the
fourth root-race. The World Teacher holds office in connection with both the
fourth and fifth root-races.

Each of these departmental
heads directs a number of subsidiary offices, and the department of the
Mahachohan is divided into five divisions, so as to take in the four lesser
aspects of Hierarchical rule.

Under the Manu work the
regents of the different world divisions, such as, for instance, the Master
Jupiter, the oldest of the Masters now working in physical bodies for humanity,
Who is the regent for India, and the Master Rakoczi, Who is the regent for
Europe and America. It must be remembered here that though the Master R., for
instance, belongs to the seventh ray, and thus comes under the department of
energy of the Mahachohan, yet in Hierarchical work He may and does hold office
temporarily under the Manu. These regents hold in Their hands the reins of
government for continents and nations, thus guiding, even if unknown, their
destinies; They impress and inspire statesmen and rulers; They pour forth
mental energy on governing groups, thus bringing about the desired results
wherever co-operation and receptive intuition can be found amongst the
thinkers.

The World Teacher presides
over the destiny of the great religions through the medium of a group of
Masters and initiates Who direct the activities of these different schools of
thought. In illustration:—The Master Jesus, the inspirer and director of the
Christian Churches everywhere, [47] though
an adept on the sixth ray under the department of the Mahachohan, works at
present under the Christ for the welfare of Christianity; other Masters hold
similar posts in relation to the great oriental faiths, and the various
occidental schools of thought.

In the department of the
Mahachohan a large number of Masters, in fivefold division, work in connection
with the deva evolution, and with the intelligence aspect in man. Their
divisions follow those of the four minor rays of attribute:—

1. The ray of harmony or
beauty.

2. The ray of concrete
science or knowledge.

3. The ray of devotion or
abstract idealism.

4. The ray of ceremonial law
or magic,

just as the three
departmental heads represent the three major rays of:—

I. Will or power.

II. Love or wisdom.

III. Active intelligence, or
adaptability.

The four rays or attributes
of mind, with the third ray of intelligence, as synthesised by the Mahachohan,
make up the sumtotal of the fifth principle of mind or manas.